Standard Group owners are shopping around for a CEO to lead the media company’s recovery process. BusinessToday has learnt that current Standard Group Chief Executive Officer Sam Shollei has fallen out with the Moi family, who are the principal shareholders in the company that owns Standard newspapers, KTN and radio Maisha among other media interests.
Mr Gideon Moi, the son of retired president and the most active in Standard Group affairs, has approached a manager at Bamburi Cement to take up the post. It is understood that the manager set out tough conditions, including delinking politics from management.
Someone privy to the negotiations says this threw the spanner in the works as Moi family is still keen on using the Standard media platforms to drive their political agenda. “He needed an assurance that once he takes over as the CEO, his hands will be free from political manipulations from the owners. This is the factor they failed to agree on,” said a source close to Moi Family.
Earlier, the Moi family was beaten by Uchumi Supermarket to tap Equity Bank chief operating officer Julius Kipng’etich to help turnaround Kenya’s second biggest media house. During negotiations with Gideon, Mr Kipng’etich, who is credited with streamlining the Kenya Wildlife Service, had expressed the same sentiments of political interference but was not keen as Uchumi presented a better deal.
Mr Shollei, who joined Standard three years ago from Nation Media Group, is said to have started sharing farewell messages with some of his staff. “He has been packing his personal stuff. It is not if but when he is leaving,” said a source at the Standard Group’s third Floor where the CEO’s office is located.
At the centre of discussions now is who will succeed Mr Shollei, whose performance has not impressed Standard Group’s owners. In the event that Mr Shollei leaves before his successor is found, one of the executive directors will take over in acting capacity.
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